Colony senior earns 'dream' opportunity to play basketball at Simon Fraser

Tonya Karpow has had one ultimate goal for her future since she was in middle school. Play college basketball at Simon Fraser University.

Now that dream is a reality.

The Colony High School senior has signed her National Letter of Intent to attend Simon Fraser in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and play for the Division II Red Leafs women’s basketball program.

“It’s the first school I thought of in the seventh grade when my first coach, my travel coach, said what’s your plan for college? Have you thought about it,” Karpow said as she celebrated with friends and family during a ceremony Tuesday afternoon at Colony High School. “I’d really like to go to Simon Fraser. It’s really been my dream ever since that day.”

Karpow has a family connection to the school and the area. Her dad is an SFU alumnus and her grandparents live in nearby Vancouver. But to earn the opportunity to attend and play for her dream school, it took some work.

"Tonya contacted us last year and showed a fire and determination to attend SFU. Her video looked promising, but she did seem undersized for her position. However, her attendance at our camp where she was the most competitive player there, was a highlight. She competes hard and will be a welcome addition to our program,” SFU head coach Bruce Langford said in a press release issued by the school.

Karpow, a 5-foot-8 wing and forward, had the chance to participate in a camp hosted by the program.

“When I went to camp, they were blown away by my aggressiveness,” she said. “I really tried to put in everything I had to improve.”

Simon Fraser is a member of the Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

“I feel like it will be a challenge. I’m willing to stand for the challenge and get better and better every day,” Karpow said of playing on the Division II level. “I knew I was going to do my best to go out and play college basketball. I didn’t know if I could get to DII, but I was able to grind it out and get there.”

UAA and UAF are also members of the GNAC. Karpow can now also have the chance to play in front of her local family and friends when the Red Leafs travel to Alaska.

“It will be awesome for my family to be able to see me play against good competition,” she said.

Karpow played her first two seasons at West Anchorage before making the move to Colony High prior to her junior year. It was a return for Karpow, who played middle school basketball at CMS.

“A much as I loved playing at West, it was awesome to come back and play with them,” Karpow said of her Knights teammates. “They were like family to me. I missed it so much.”

Karpow made an immediate impact with the Knights, helping lead Colony to the 4A state title game. She was named third-team all-state.

Karpow also competes in girls flag football and track and field. She holds a 4.0 grade point average, and plans to study business and accounting in college.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.